Interrupter mechanism.



J. R. STARK.

FNTERRUPTER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16. 191-7.

Patented May 28,1918.

e Q d J. R. STARK. INTERRQPTER MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED JULY 16. 1912.

1 ,267,8 1 6. Patented Ma y 28, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. 5b

Inil'enjzr M22 12 Jim? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN ROY STARK, 0F RACINE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE WEBSTER ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF RACINE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

INTERRUPTER MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28, 1918.

Application filed J'uly 16,1917. Serial No. 180,743.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN ROY STARK, a citizen of the United States, residingat Ra.- cine, in the county of Racine and State of Visconsin, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Interrupter Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to interrupter mechanism, and more specifically to devices for alternately making and breaking an electric circuit. Although the mechanism of my in vention may be employed for many purposes it finds particular utility inan ii1terrupter commonly employed in connection with internal combustion engines for male ing and breaking the ignition circuit, the circuit being employed to furnish the necessary sparks for ignition in the working cylinders of the engine.

It is the general object of the present invention to provide an interrupter which is positive and eflicient in its operation and one which may be manufactured cheaply. In connection with internal combustion engines it has been the practice to use one of two general types of interrupters. In one type the interrupter contacts, or contact mechanism, are held stationary and a movable element such as a cam is arranged to actuate the contacts to open and close the same alternately. In the other general type the contacts and contact mechanism are movable, or rotatable, and are arranged to be actuated by a stationary cam. In the accompanyingvdrawings I have illustrated my invention asapplied to both of these general types of interrupters, but I desire to have it understood that it may be applied to other types or for purposes other than for interrupting the ignition circuit of an internal combustion engine.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of an interchangeable or adjustable interrupter timing lever associated with the interrupter mechanism so as to facilitate adjustment of the interrupter contacts and thus the advance or retard of the sparking in the engine cylinders.

The above mentioned and other objects of the invention will be pointed out in detail in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein,

Figure 1 is an enlarged front elevational view of the interrupter mechanism of my invention, the cover plate being removed to show the internal construction;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross sectional view taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

similar parts throughout the several views.

Although the interrupter mechanism of my nvention may be mounted separate and distinct from the magneto, I have shown the interrupter mounted against the end wall of a magneto and operated by the rotor shaft thereof. In Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown a portion of a magneto framework at 7 provided at 8 with an outwardly extending flange or bearing surface. Mounted for oscillation around the flange 8 of the magneto in the interrupter housing 9 consisting of a metallic casing 10 and an insulator cover plate 11. Attached to the housing 10 and insulated therefrom is a bracket 12 provided with an outwardly extending arm 13 to which is attached a pin 14: extending through the aperture 15 provided in the cover plate 11. The pin 14 is engaged by a flat spring 16 held at the outer end of a post 17 carried by the magneto. The post 17 carries a second fiat spring 18 resting against the outer surface of the cover plate 11, the function of the spring 18 being to hold the in terrupter housing in place around the projection 8 of the magneto. Screwthreaded into the bracket .12 and extending inwardly therefrom is a contact 19 provided with a hexagonal head 20 to facilitate adjustment of the contact. After the necessary adjustment has been made the head 20, and thus this flat spring is connected at 27 with a' lever 28 mounted for oscillation about the pivot 29. The end of the lever 28 opposite the point of attachment 27 carries a cam engaging piece 30 arranged to be engaged by the high points of the cam shown at 31. The cam 31 is mounted on the rotor shaft 32 extending from the magneto. To afford means for lubricating the wearing surface of the cam 31 the support 24 carries the projection 33 in which is mounted a lubricating wick 34 which engages the wearing faces of the cam.

Attached to the housing at 10 by the two screws shown at 35 and 36, which are located diametrically opposite one another, is an interrupter lever 37 provided at 38 with means for connecting it with a controlling wire or lever terminating at a point convenient to the operator. By moving the lever 37 upwardly or downwardly the housing 9 may be oscillated about the axis of the rotor shaft with the result that the lever 28 and its cam engaging portion 30 may be adjusted with respect to the cam 31.

The fiat spring 26 carries a contact 39 which normally engages the contact 19 mounted in the bracket 12. The connections 25 and 27 between the spring and the support and lever, 24 and 28 respectively, are positioned so that the spring 26 has a tendency to spread, or straighten out, with the result that the contact 39 is pressed tightly against its co-acting contact 19. The action of the spring 26 also tends to rotate the lever 28 in a clockwise direction (Fig. 1).

In the operation of the device the cam 31 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow and as it engages the cam piece 30 of the lever 28 the lever is moved about its pivot 29 in a counter-clockwise direction (Fig. 1) with the result that the spring 26 is bulged inwardly and the contacts 39 and 19 are separated. As the cam passes over the cam piece 30 of the lever the resiliency of the spring 26 forces the lever 28 back to its original position and moves the contact 39 again into engagement with its cotiperating contact 19. The circuit connections through the contacts are provided by the spring 16 which engages the bracket 12 and thus electrically connects with the contact 19, and the stationary support 24 which is grounded to the casing 10 which in turn rests against the magneto.

In Fig. 1 I have shown the interrupter lever 37 disposed on one side of the interrupter housing. In some cases it may be desirable, for the sake of convenience, to locate this lever on the opposite side of the housing and to facilitate the attachment of the lever to either side the lever is constructed as shown in the drawings, and particularly in Fig. 6. In moving the lever from one side of the housing to the other the two screws 35 and 36 are removed and the lever swung about the housing from one position to the other, as shown in full and dotted lines in Fig. 6. The screws are then put back in place to hold the interrupter lever in its new position.

In Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, I have shown the mechanism of my invention as applied to an interrupter in which the contact mechanism is stationary and the operating cam movable.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have shown my invention applied to an interrupter in which the contacts rotate and in which the operating cams are stationary.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, I have shown a magneto at 40 provided with an outwardly extending flange 41 through which the rotor shaft 42 of the magneto extends.

The interrupter housing 43 consists of a metallic portion 44 and an insulator cover plate, the housing being rotatably mounted around the outwardly extending flange 41 of the magneto. Attached to the rotor shaft 42 is a base plate 46 carrying a bracket 47 which is insulated from the base plate and from the rotor shaft. The bracket 47 is electrically connected with a screw 48 which extends outwardly through an aperture 49 in the cover plate 45 and is arranged to be engaged by the fiat spring 50 carried upon the stud 51. The bracket 47 carries the contact 51 arranged to be adjusted and held in its adjusted position by the lock 52. The base plate 46 also carries the support 53 to which is attached at 54 one end of a flat spring 55. The opposite end of the spring is connected at 56 with an oscillating lever 57 arranged for oscillation about the pivot 58. The spring 55 carries a contact 59 normally engaging the contact 51. The outer end of the lever 57 carries a cam engaging piece 60 arranged to engage the two cams shown at 61 and 62 attached to or forming a part of the housing 44. The tendency of the spring 55, like that of the spring 26 shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is to straighten out and move the lever 57 in a clock-wise direction (Fig 4). Upon rotation of the rotor shaft, and thus the base plate 46 which is attached thereto, in the direction indicated by the arrow the cam engaging piece 60 of the lever 57 engages one of the cams 61 and 62 and moves the outer end of the lever 57 inwardly with the result that the spring 55 is bulged inwardly and the contacts 51 and 59 separated. As the cam engaging piece 60 leaves one of the earns 61 and 62 the spring 55: againmoves the parts to the position shown in Fig. 4 and again closes the electric circuit through the contacts 51 and 59. The electric circuit through the contacts is provided from the armature of the magneto through the screw 48, the bracket 47, contact 51, contact 59, spring 55, support 53, to the base plate 46. The base plate 46 is connected with ground through a spring pressed brush 63, which is carried by the base plate 46 and which engages the metallic housing 44. If desired the flange 41 may be enlarged so that the brush 63 rides directly against the magneto casing. In Fig. 5 I have shown the spring 50 in engagement with the screw 48 in which position the spring serves to ground the magneto permanently and thereby short circuits the magneto and thus renders the engine inoperative. When it is desired to operate the engine the spring 50 is moved to a position out of engagement with the screw 48.

The interrupter housing 43 is connected with the interrupter lever 37 which is similar in all respects to that shown in Figs. 1 and 6 and is adjustable so that it may be moved to either side of the housing.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Contact mechanism comprising a stationary contact, a fiat spring forming a second contact, a support for one end of the spring, a pivoted lever attached to the opposite end of the spring, said spring having a point intermediate its ends, normally engaging the first contact, and means for to the opposite end of the spring, said spring having a point intermediate its ends normally engaging the first contact, and cam mechanism for swinging the pivoted lever in a direction to move the end of the spring attached thereto toward the opposite end of the spring, for bulging the spring and cansing separation between the spring and the stationary contact.

3. Interrupter contact mechanism comprising a flat spring fixed at one end, a pivoted lever attached to the opposite end of the spring, a contact normally engaging the spring at a point intermediate its ends, said contact being arranged to hold the spring in the form of an arc, and to prevent the spring from assuming a straight line position, and means for operating the lever to move the end of the spring attached thereto toward the opposite end thereof, whereby the spring is given a bulge and caused to separate from the said contact.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 12th day of July, A. D. 1917.

JOHN ROY STARK. \Vitnesses:

WALTER BROWN, DAGMAR PETERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

